High Desert Christian College in Bend ‘converts’ to Kilns College

By ALLISON BRANDOW
CNNW intern reporter
    BEND — A couple dozen students. Four classes. New faculty and staff. A goal to change the world.
    That is how Kilns College, a Christian college in Bend, will begin its inaugural school year on Sept. 8. Its first semester, staff members hope, will ignite the development of a uniquely focused school.
   “Education should be built around your calling,” college President Ken Wystma said, “and these days it’s designed around vocation. It’s not (usually) tied to the person and their calling.”
    As a school of theology and mission, Kilns College aims to prepare students for biblically strong cultural involvement based on students’ callings, no matter what their vocations.
   “Our approach (is) not just providing head knowledge, but trying to make it end-oriented, goal-oriented, missional, relevant, biblical head knowledge,” professor Rick Gerhardt said. “It (isn’t) teaching dry class work or even teaching just Bible, but Bible with a life goal: ‘How is this going to make a difference in my life? How is it going to set me up to making a difference in my world today?’”
    For the first semester, Kilns is offering four classes: personal calling and mission, the Bible and archaeology, foundations/ perspectives (history and philosophy) and advanced apologetics.
    Enrollment in these classes, which is open to full-time students and auditors, will continue through the week of Sept. 8. Classes will meet at The Kilns bookstore in the Old Mill Marketplace in Bend.
    Wystma said that during the first year, most students will be auditors from the central Oregon community. He expects 20 to 30 more students next year, many of them full-time. But Wystma wants the college to remain small, topping out around 100 full-time students.
    Administrators of Kilns College want to keep tuition low. According to Kim Hunt, vice president of the college, auditors may take classes for $50 per unit, while for-credit students will pay $75 per unit. Wystma hopes the low cost will help students exit college with fewer loans, thus enabling them to enter missions work easily.
    The school plans to renovate an old motel in Bend in which students will live. And because Kilns College will concentrate its curriculum on theology and missions, students will accumulate general education credits at Central Oregon Community Col-lege in Bend. This will allow students to stay connected with and influence their community.
    Kilns College is not accredited but received state approval to issue diplomas. The school also has transfer agreements with several Christian colleges in the Northwest.
    Kilns College, al-though essentially new, is a conversion of High Desert Christian College, which was formed in Bend about seven years ago.
In December 2007, the board of High Desert Christian College proposed that Antioch Church in Bend take over administration of the school. Wystma, pastor at Antioch Church, agreed, and along with Hunt and others he began to re-shape the school.
    Leadership chose to rename the school after C.S. Lewis’ house, the Kilns. Hunt said the connection to the famous writer is a reminder of the college’s focus on theology and missions. Also, the school wants to encourage students in the arts, so the name ties the school to pottery work that is popular in central Oregon.
    After alteration of the name, revision of the mission and modification of the desired target demographic, Kilns College began. According to Wystma, it barely resembles High Desert Christian College, keeping only the previous assets and state approvals.
    The change from High Desert Christian College to Kilns College will benefit students, Gerhardt said. “Kilns wants to be balanced and missional, and to follow Christ in making a difference with the poor,” he said, “not just spreading the evangelical message but making their lives better because of the gospel.”
    For more information, visit www.kilnscollege.com or phone 541-389-9166.